Bottle stopper



April 17, 1951 H. w. WILLIAMS BOTTLE STOPPER Filed May 7, 1946 INVENTOR #49040 W l/V/LL/A/us BY n. L fi q ATTORNEY Patented Apr. 17, 1951 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE BOTTLE STOPPER Harold W. Williams, Pawling, N. Y.

Application May 7-, 1946, Serial No. 667,860

Claims.

The invention herein disclosed relates to. a bottle stopper of the kind that includes a plug portion that is adapted to be inserted. in the neck of a bottle.

Bottle stoppers of the kind mentioned that are commonly used include, in general, a. cork plug. and a wooden end. piece or cap glued or cemented to the plug. Such bottle stoppers have. many inherent and well known disadvantages, and various attempts have heretofore been made to produce a bottle stopper of this kind to replace the. cork stopper. Except.- for the glass stopper, which has limited application because of its cost, none of these prior attempts have met with any measure of success. An object of the present invention is to. provide a bottle stopper of the kind mentioned that may be molded from available material and. that provides a fluid tight closure for a bottle or like container. Another object of the invention is to provide such a bottle stopper that has a pliable plug portion for insertion into the neck of a bottle. A further object of the invention is to provide such a bottle stopper that may be made. in various colors and color combinations. Another object of the invention is to provide. such a bottle stopper that is comparatively inexpensive to manufacture.

The foregoing objects and. certain advantages that will hereinafter appear, are realized in the embodiments of the invention illustrated the accompanying drawing and described in detail below, from which description. a. clearer understanding of the invention may be had.

The drawing includes Fig. 1 which is a side elevation of a bottle stopper embodying the. invention;

Fig. 2 which is a. top plan view of the same;

Fig. 3 which is a sectional elevation of the same taken on the line 3-4; of Fig. 1; and

Fig. 4 which 'is a fragmentary sectional elevation of a modified form of the bottle stopper.

The particular bottle stopper illustrated in 1v to 4 of the drawings, includes a plugportion lv that is adapted. to be inserted in the neck of a bottle, and a cap portion 2 of greater transverse dimension than the plug portion. and forming shoulder 3 that abuts against the edge. of the neck of a bottle into which the. plug is inserted. In the stopper shown, the plug is hollow, closed by an end wall 4, and has. a slight taper that is. not discernable to the unaided. eye. The plug is molded vfrom pliable material, desirably a thermo-plastic that is pliable at temperatures ordinarily encountered. In this way; the plug has sufiicient elasticity to conform to the neck of a bottle in which. it is inserted, and make a fluid tight fit therewith. Desirably, as illustrated, the side wall of the plug l makes a right angle with the end wall. This provides the necessary rigidity and prevents the plug from collapsing when inserted in the neck of a bottle.

There are several materials, moldab'le thermoplastic materials, that are pliable at ordinary temperature and therefore suitable for the bottle stopper of this invention. One such material that has been found especially suitable for the purpose is Polythene. This is a thermo-plastic material that is available on the open market and known by thechemical name polyethylene.

On the plug portion 1 of the stopper illustrated in the drawing, there are two axially spaced, cir-' cumambient beads 5' and 6. These beads are in effect slight protuberances and serve two purposes. They assist in effecting a fluid tight engagement with the neck of a bottle into which the plug is inserted. In addition, these beads prevent the plug from working out of the neck of the bottle. With the beads a comparatively loose fit between the plug and the neck of the bottle provides a satisfactory fluid tight stoppage, and the plug will not accidentally come loose from the bottle.

While it is essential that the plug portion be pliable, the plug and cap may be molded in one integral piece. This is the construction illustrated. The cap 2 is also hollow but is closed by a closure or insert 1'. The insert includes an end wall 8 and a skirt 9 which when assembled in the cap-extends into the cap with the edge thereof engaging the inner surface of the shoulder 3 when the end wall 8 is flush with the edge of the cap. The insert and cap are provided with interengaging means for retaining the insert in the cap. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in the drawing the interengaging means consists of a circular recess ID inthe inner surface of the side wall of the cap and a complementary bead l I on the skirt of the insert. The insert is pressed intothe cap until the bead and recess interengage. As the material is pliable,

the assembly is readily effected. The insert also provides rigidity to the cap.

The stopper and the insert may be made of material of the same or diiierent colors. In this way many combinations of" colors may be produced to provide pleasant effects.

In Fig. 4, there is shown astopper of this kind, embodying the invention, which carries a dispensing rod or brush l2. For this purpose, the

end wall l3 of the plug portion [4 of the stopper is molded with a cylindrical, cup-shaped, inward extension [5. The end of the rod I2 is inserted in this extension and may be cemented therein.

The stoppers illustrated are very satisfactory for replacing the common cork stopper. They are much more attractive and equally efiective. While one common form of bottle stop-per has been illustrated, there is versatility in that various shapes and forms may be molded due to the pliability of the material.

It will be obvious that various changes may be made by those skilled in the art in the details of the embodiments of the invention illustrated in the drawing and described in detail above within the principle and scope of the invention, as expressed in the appended claims.

I claim:

1. As an article of manufacture, a bottle stopper of the kind to be pressed into the neck of a bottle having a smooth inner surface, which bottle stopper consists in combination of two parts, a hollow plug portion having an integral end wall and adapted to engage the inner surface of the neck of a bottle, the plug consisting of a molded, pliable non-stretchable, thermo-plastic material, whereby the plug portion upon being pressed into the neck of a bottle conforms to irregularities in and engages the inner surface of the neck of a bottle in fluid-tight contact therewith, a hollow cap portion of larger transverse dimension than the plug portion integrally formed with the plug portion and forming a shoulder adapted to engage the edge of the neck of a bottle into which the plug portion is pressed, an insert in the cap portion forming the end wall of the cap portion, the insert having a skirt thereon extending into the cap portion, and. interengaging complementary circumambient bead and groove, on the cap portion and the insert for retaining the insert therein.

2. As an article of manufacture, a bottle stopper of the kind to be pressed into the neck of a bottle having a smooth inner surface, which bottle stopper consists in combination of two parts, a hollow plug having an integral end wall and adapted to engage the inner surface of the neck of a bottle, the plug consisting of molded, pliable, non-stretchable polyethylene, whereby the plug portion upon being pressed into the neck of a bottle conforms to irregularities in and engages the inner surface of the neck of a bottle in fluid-tight contact therewith, a hollow cap portion of larger transverse dimension than the plug portion integrally formed with the plug portion and forming a shoulder adapted to engage the edge of the neck of a bottle into which the plug portion is pressed, an insert in the cap portion forming the end wall of the cap portion, the insert having a skirt thereon extending into the cap portion, and interengaging complementary circumambient bead and groove, on the cap portion and the insert for retaining th insert therein.

3. As an article of manufacture, a bottle stopper of the kind to be pressed into the neck of a bottle having a smooth inner surface, which bottle stopper consists in combination of two parts, a hollow plug portion having a slight taper such as is not discernible by the unaided eye, an integral end wall and a circumambient bead intermediate the ends thereof, the plug portion consisting of a molded, thermo-plastic resin characterized by the fact that it is pliable, but nonstretchable at ordinary temperatures, whereby .der spaced the plug portion is compressible and engages the inner surface of the neck of a bottle in fluidtight contact therewith, a hollow cap portion of larger transverse dimension than the plug portion integrally formed with the plug portion and forming a shoulder adapted to engage the edge of the neck of a bottle into which the plug portion is pressed, the cap portion having a groove in the inner surface of the wall thereof, an insert in the cap portion forming the end wall of and reinforcing the cap portion, the insert having a skirt thereon extending into the cap portion, and a bead on the skirt of the insert extending into the groove in the inner surface of the cap portion for retaining the insert in the cap portion flush with the edge thereof.

4. As an article of manufacture, a bottle stopper of the kind to be pressed into the neck of a bottle having a smooth inner surface, which bottle stopper consists in combination of two molded parts, a hollow plug portion having an integral end wall and adapted to engage the inner surface of the neck of a bottle, the plug consisting of molded polyethylene, whereby the plug portion upon being pressed into the neck of a bottle conforms to irregularities in and engages the inner surface of the neck of a bottle in fluidtight contact therewith, a hollow cap portion of larger transverse dimension than the plug portion, integrally formed with the plug portion and forming a shoulder adapted to engage the neck of the bottle into which the plug portion is pressed, and an insert in the cap portion, the insert having a radial outwardly extending shoulder spaced inwardly from the outer surface thereof, and the cap portion having a radial inwardly extending shoulder engaging the outwardly extending shoulder of the insert and spaced inwardly of the edge of the cap portion an amount substantially equal to the inward spacing of the outwardly extending shoulder of the insert, whereby the edge of the cap portion and the outer surface of the insert are substantially flush.

5. As an article of manufacture, a bottle stopper of the kind to be pressed into the neck of a bottle having a smooth inner surface, which bottle stopper consists in combination of two molded parts, a hollow plug portion having an integral end wall and adapted to engage the inner surface of the neck of a bottle, the plug consisting of molded polyethylene, whereby the plug portion upon being pressed into the neck of a bottle conforms to irregularities in and engages the inner surface of the neck of a bottle in fluidtight contact therewith, a hollow cap portion of larger transverse dimension than the plug portion, integrally formed with the plug portion and forming a shoulder adapted to engage the neck of the bottle into which the plug portion is pressed, and an insert in the cap portion, the insert having a radial outwardly extending shoulinwardly from the outer surface thereof, and the cap portion having a radial inwardly extending shoulder engaging the outwardly extending shoulder of the insert and spaced inwardly of the edge of the cap portionan amount substantially equal to the inward spacing of the outwardly extending shoulder of the insert, whereby the edge of the cap portion and the outer surface of the insert are substantially flush, and a skirt on the cap portion extending to and engaging the shoulder formed at the juncture of the plug and hollow cap portion.

HAROLD W. WILLIAMS.

(References on following page) .9 5 6 REFERENCES CITED FOREIGN PATENTS The following references are of record in the Number Country Date file of this patent: 12,528 Great Britain Dec. 8, 1910 Great Britain July 13, 526,734 Great Britain Sept. 24, 1940 Number Name Date v 429,579 Oliver et a1. June 3, 1890 OTHER REFERENCES 1,863,158 Greene June 14, 932 British Plastics: The Properties and Uses of 2,021,259 Magnuson Nov. 19, 1935 Polyethylehes, by E. Hunter and W. G. Cakes, 2,238,681 Dorough Apr. 15, 1941 March'1945; pages 94 to 98, inclusive.

2,289,677 Perelson July 14, 1942 

